The following is not an admission that anything discussed below is part of the prior art or part of the common general knowledge of a person skilled in the art.
Various types of surface cleaning apparatus are known including upright vacuum cleaners and extractors. Typically, an upright vacuum cleaner includes an upper section, including an air treatment member such as one or more cyclones and/or filters, drivingly mounted to a surface cleaning head. An up flow conduit is typically provided between the surface cleaning head and the upper section. In some such vacuum cleaners, a spine, casing or backbone extends between the surface cleaning head and the upper section for supporting the air treatment member. The suction motor may be provided in the upper section.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,188,388 (Best) discloses a multi-use vacuum cleaner with a detachable cyclonic vacuum module. The vacuum cleaner may be used as an upright vacuum cleaner when the detachable vacuum module is mounted to the base or the detachable vacuum module may be detached and used by itself. The detachable vacuum module includes a vacuum motor, a motor driven fan, a cyclonic dirt separator and a hose.
US patent publication No. US 2015/0096143 (Conrad) discloses an upright vacuum cleaner with a removable hand vacuum cleaner. The upright vacuum cleaner may be used in different cleaning modes including use as an upright vacuum cleaner when the hand vacuum cleaner is mounted to the handle.